Clubs ring in the Chinese New Year with drums, dance

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Chinese New Year is ushered in with a chorus of drumming and traditional dragon and lion dances. Photos by Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser Chinese New Year's Celebration 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday Chinese Cultural Plaza 533-3181

"The beat of the drum is the beating of the lion's heart," Lum says. "Everything the lion does, it's heart has it's own beat. There's a beat for smelling, for walking, for being awake."

At the moment, the lion's heart is slightly arrhythmic. While Lum pounds his steady beat a small troop of conscripted students tentatively coaxes their drums, cymbals and gongs into the flow.

Seated nearby, 80-year-old Don Lim nods appreciatively.

"I can hear that it's Sifu from the very first beat, the minute he picks it up," Lim says. "He's one of the best. All the clubs respect what he does with the drum."

In the coming days, Lum's distinctive beat will join in a chorus of festive drumming as Hawai'i ushers in the Chinese New Year with traditional dragon and lion dances.

The New Year marks a hectic season of service and celebration for Chinese martial arts clubs and cultural organizations charged with upholding the rituals believed to assure good fortune for the coming year. Though the first day of the lunar New Year is next Tuesday, most clubs begin their performances earlier with blessings of businesses and performances in Chinatown.

For their efforts, it is customary for hosts to offer clubs lici, or cash gifts in red envelopes. In fact, for many clubs, the New Year performances serve as a primary source of money.

"A lot of the people in these other clubs were once students of mine," Lum said. "They're friends. So I don't go out that much (to perform). I don't want to compete."

Still, each year Lum and his group find themselves answering the call of groups straining to meet the demands of the season.

"We're not as active as a lot of clubs who perform every week or every day during the month," says Cindy Kam Siu. "But there are still some days when we start at 11 in the morning and keep going until 10:30 at night."

On their busiest days, Kam Siu says, she and her fellow performers will make four or five appearances around the island.

"It's literally 'Get there, do it, pack up and drive to the next one,'" she says. "If there's time in between, we might be able to eat. But usually we can't."

At larger celebrations, club members are sometimes called on to help operate the ceremonial dragon, which can take up to 70 people to manipulate. Lions, which require just one person for the head and one for the tail, often play off the dragon in street performances and also can accommodate smaller, indoor performances and blessings.

"The dragon usually represents the emperor," says Anthony Au, who coordinates the club's New Year activities. "The lion is more for the people."

Lum says each lion is symbolic of its respective club. In particular, the lion's beard often communicates basic aspects of a club's identity.

A short beard represents youth; a long one, age and experience. A red beard symbolizes supreme power and a fierce warrior's spirit. Black indicates a less-fierce warrior. White stands for wisdom, gold for imperial authority.

"It's exciting just being in the lion," says Jarrette Naope. "The head is where the mentality and the personality of the lion is, but the tail is important, too. The tail has to be animated, and you have to make sure to follow what the head is doing."

The heart, of course, lies in the drumming.

"The lion players have to listen to the drum," Lum says. "He's the one giving the signal. He's the commander in chief."